Chapter 267: Imperial Ranking War: Heat Ends, Pollution’s Next

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Ren enjoyed the cool and fresh breeze circulating within the base.

He wasn’t alone. Everybody in the team was relaxed and at ease as they chilled in the base while the heat wave outside raged on all living beings.

The temperature steadily rose over the next couple of days. At high noon, the temperature becomes so bad that the heat seems to be distorting space itself because of how hot it is.

This was an illusion, of course, but it’s still bad for anybody who’s caught outside.

But while the heat wave outside roasted everything, the situation within the Heavenly Bronze Team’s base was relaxing and comfortable.

The temperature regulating formation was working as intended and well. The heat wave couldn’t touch them from within the walls. The defensive formation firmly blocks the heat and gets filtered by the other formations to maintain a steady and comfortable environment within the base.

However, at this point, the team could only allow small groups to continue hunting outside for, at least, three or four more days before the heat outside becomes too unbearable.

This was the Extreme Heat Calamity, after all. Things only get progressively worse the longer it goes on.

But again, thanks to Ren’s preparation and the compliance of the whole team, this crisis couldn’t really touch them or threaten them.

While the outside world burned from the heat, the Heavenly Bronze team was enjoying the cool and crisp temperature within their rock. The difference was night and day, to be honest.

The other teams were starting to learn. They had to, in a painful way, but at the very least, they are making things happen now.

They still couldn’t shake the enormous lead that the Heavenly Bronze team had, but for now, they could only make do with what they have. They don’t know where the Heavenly Bronze Team was camped, after all.

And even if they did know, it’s debatable if they could even do something to them. The Heavenly Bronze team was prepared for anything after all.

But while others are ignorant of where the leading team was located, the Heavenly Bronze Team knew where every other team was.

Well, more specifically, Ren knows.

He’s the one with an outrageous sensory network range, after all.

Ren never stopped scanning the environment since day 1. He took it upon himself to know where everything was. And by now, it’s also his job to update the map daily.

Through the weekly crises, the extreme cold, and now, the extreme heat...Ren never stopped spreading his sensory network to cover as much ground as he could.

Because of this, by the end of this month, Ren would, more or less, have the whole map of the secret realm readily accessible to him. And this is without him needing to leave the base at all.

That’s how outrageous his sensory network technique was...

Because of this, Ren knows where each team was. He had spotted them long ago and had been checking on their progress daily without them knowing.

He had witnessed their struggles, their conflict, and their misery. He had seen how bad they had it and how their envy and jealousy of the Heavenly Bronze Team grew stronger each passing day.

If Ren truly wanted to, he could’ve directed his teammates towards their location.

He could’ve told others where they are and instructed them on how to handle the other teams. The Heavenly Bronze Team was in the lead, after all. By now, all members of the team were armed and armored, while other teams were still struggling to get enough food to sustain themselves.

Ren could’ve ordered the team to wipe them out one by one. Diana would’ve been the first one to agree and would lead a team to eliminate them. Nobody would’ve disagreed, either. They knew that their team had a massive lead after all, and it’s a wise decision to eliminate all future troubles while you’re still ahead.

But Ren didn’t do that...

He didn’t even reveal the whole map to his team. Sure, he’s updating it every day, but no more than necessary for what must be done. He does update the legends and markers around if there were some changes, but he hasn’t revealed the location of the nearest team from their base.

His reason behind this was simple...it’s not yet the time.

Ren wasn’t worried, and neither was his team. They’re not the ones under pressure here; it’s the other teams that do.

He could afford to delay the confrontation because it’s beneficial for his own team, too.

Sure, the delay will allow others to adjust and improve their situations, but it will never truly be enough to actually catch up with the progress of the Heavenly Bronze Team.

Their advantage is just too much, after all. The ones who were ahead will always be ahead; that’s how this game works. And Ren was here—the cheater who pretends he’s paranoid to cover all their bases. How can other teams compare?

With him, the Heavenly Bronze Team could afford to wait and chill for now.

They could even hone their skills with the amount of free time they had. Their progress here wouldn’t be faster either because of the energy-gathering formation.

Eventually, the confrontation will happen. The system will practically force the issue since this was the Imperial Ranking War, after all.

Since it’s bound to happen, he might as well wait until it does. By then, the team would be more ready and deadlier. It wouldn’t be too late to eliminate every other team in one swoop by then.

**

By the time the 3rd week of the Extreme Heat Calamity arrived, Ren told the team to stay put inside the rock.

The outside had become too hostile and inhabitable because of the heat; the monsters nearby were all practically going crazy because of thirst and desperate need to survive.

Ren didn’t want to risk provoking them anymore, so he cancelled the hunting.

They would be fine. Their stockpile had been replenished, and they have more than enough to last until the end of this calamity and the next...whatever that will be.

If the worst happens, they could ration this stockpile to extend its worth by three whole months. But they would only resort to that if the worst truly does happen. For now, there’s no need to conserve so much.

By the time the 4th week of the Extreme Heat Calamity arrived, the situation outside practically turned to hell.

The river surrounding the rock was practically boiling all the time, night and day, and the water level was going down at an alarming pace. Ren even predicted that the whole river might dry up before the calamity was over.

He could only imagine how much suffering the seafood down there had to endure because of this heat.

And since it was the last week before the next crisis occurred, the calamity truly worsened. Before, the temperature only rose five degrees higher compared to yesterday. During the last week, though? The increase doubled each passing day.

Nobody could step out in the open without being roasted immediately by the encompassing heat. The haze was so bad that it was distorting everything.

But again, thanks to Ren’s preparations, the Heavenly Bronze Team was doing just fine.

While it’s raging hot outside with the ground being so dry that it’s cracking and the forests randomly igniting into flames, the rock was steady and stable.

It’s cool and comfortable inside the rock. The walls were cold; there’s plenty of food and water outside; nobody has to sweat if they don’t want to.

They could sleep through the harshest part of the crisis and never have to be worried about any accidents.

It’s completely unlike the situation of other teams who, despite cleaning up their act and doing their best, were still dying off one by one because of how harsh the calamity was.

On the eve of the calamity’s last day, the system announcement came again.

Once again, it congratulated the Heavenly Bronze Team for surviving and taking the undisputed first place. Because of that, they won’t have to deal with weekly crises for the entirety of next month once more. And they have officially started a winning streak.

The system told them that the higher their winning streak was, the better their final rewards would be. And once again, only members of their team had been made aware of this. The other teams remain ignorant.

The Heavenly Bronze Team’s cumulative points had surpassed three million at this point and were approaching four million. The other teams, on the other hand, were still far from their first million.

The lead was truly staggering.

With that, the Extreme Heat Calamity was over after a couple of hours. And just like the aftermath of the Extreme Cold Calamity, once it was over, the world returned to its usual appearance as if nothing ever happened at all.

The difference still stunned people even though they’ve seen it for the second time at this point. However, their attention was pulled off from that immediately since the next calamity was upon them.

For their 3rd month, everybody will have to deal with the Extreme Pollution Calamity.